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SHICKSHINNY - When it isn't swallowing up the borough's business and residential districts, Shickshinny residents see the Susquehanna River as an asset.

Tropical Storm Lee's historic crest of 42.66 feet on Sept. 9, 2011, spelled disaster for the borough, as the river inundated most of its businesses and a big chunk of its residential district.

A year later, downtown Shickshinny is bouncing back - although the residential area still needs work - and residents have come up with an ambitious plan to improve their community.

With guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, borough residents formed Shickshinny Forward, a group with the goal of minimizing the loss of homes and businesses in future floods and to market Shickshinny as a regional hub for business, recreation and tourism, the group's president Brian Phillips said.

"The flooding impacts people, but the bottom line is you have to grab your bootstraps and do what's right for yourself and your family," he said. "It really is a good place to live 99 percent of the time, when the river's down."

The group has drawn up a long-term recovery plan. Projects include riverfront improvements such as a boat launch, new public safety measures, creating a community center, and marketing Shickshinny as a river town. To help with the effort, the group is partnering with Bloomsburg University for marketing studies and community planning, Phillips said.

He said Shickshinny has a lot of natural beauty and recreational amenities including the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, and the river itself. Besides, it's a nice place to live, where everybody knows everyone else.

"It's more a community than a place you go to park your car at night," Phillips said.

In fact, Phillips, a Wilkes-Barre native, is an import himself. He moved to the borough 12 years ago because he spotted an appealing house for sale - the Rockview Avenue home where he lives with his wife and daughter and has his home office.

Businesses are the anchor of the borough, Phillips said. And with the exception of three or four, almost all have reopened in Shickshinny's downtown.

Again, there are places to eat: Curry Donuts reopened, then Subway, then J-Angelo's New York Pizza. The Wagon Wheel reopened not long ago, and China Fun just came in to replace the China Jade restaurant.

Family Dollar is returning, and soon Thomas' Family Markets will take the place of the 5 Mountains Market. Skovish Pools, Five Mountains Hardware, Shickshinny Floral, PenMart, Holey Cow - they're all back and better than ever.

But heading down West Union Street, the residential district along the river tells another story.

Along Susquehanna Avenue and Canal Street, the hardest-hit area, children play in the Canal Street park, a little girl pedals down the street on a bicycle, a man is mowing his lawn.

But most of the houses are obviously vacant. Several have "STL" scrawled on them in hot pink spray paint.

They are the ones slated for demolition: 25 were approved for federal buyouts.

Walter Sims, who previously raised his Canal Street home above flood level, was able to move back in when the water receded. But he's not happy about what's happening in his neighborhood.

"They're ripping beautiful homes down that should be saved. That's what aggravates me," he said.

Sims points to a house with a hole in its roof on Susquehanna Avenue. It's up for tax sale, he said. Another house down the street has a real estate agent's sign in the front yard, almost obscured by the high grass.

"This whole block is going to be empty," said Irvin Wolfe, who lives next door to the house with the hole in the roof. He restored his own home, which took on seven feet of water. Other houses on the block, including his daughter's four doors down, are going to be demolished, but not the house with the damaged roof, which Wolfe said he has complained about for years.

"I wouldn't even walk in that house," he said.

To offset the loss from the flooding, Shickshinny needs a tax base, Phillips said, which means making the borough more appealing and bringing in more people and businesses.

Phillips said there is a need to build houses outside the flood zone, and new businesses are always welcome.

"This is an area that's ripe for the picking for the right kind of developer," he said.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

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